Chapter Twenty: Happily Ever After... Maybe

                                    

                                          
By late fall the woods are dark. The leaves don't fall, the trees cling to them desperately so the sky remains painted orange then they die slowly and remain there until they're pushed out the following spring.
                          
	Mother has been practicing riding alone and creating trails for us, sometimes taking out a low hanging branch by mistake and coming home with a goose egg impossible to hide under any hat.
                          
	In the mean time I've been poking around on Snowflake, my pony, and watching my sisters make slow progress improving. When their horses finally become accustomed to the buzzing sound they make and the sudden vanishing and reappearing of their riders I don't have to chase them down anymore.
                          
	In late October it's finally time for our first ride as a family. Erobus included.
                          
	"Daniela, your saddle pad is upside down."
                          
	Cassandra laughs as she swings up into her saddle and spins right back down the to ground, dissipating to avoid the impact.
                          
	"And you didn't tighten your cinch," I say with a sigh.
                          
	The saddles mother was able to find for us aren't quite like any saddles I've ever seen before. I have to remember everything I learned in my years as a barn rat and a horseback riding assistant from years ago. All the tack works and fits the same but some of the finery and other bits are what I'm not accustomed to.
                          
	When we all manage to finally get up into and stay in our saddles even Erobus seems relieved. His tail wags and he trots along beyond the stable wall and out along the trail. Mother has grown only slightly fond of him as he's become her constant companion on her rides.
                          
	On horseback with the pony I'm shorter than ever. Bela stoops down to pat my head, "Hello little sister."
                          
	"Stuff it," I swat her hand away.
                          
	"Now girls I want you to behave. No showing off and no rough housing on the trails. I will lead, Cassandra you will bring up the rear and watch your sisters," Mother says as she gathers her reins unnecessarily delicately. While it's not needed for the actual ride it's a lingering habit from her days as a champion equestrian and it won't bother her mount.
                          
	Mother counts us one more time then smiles, "Lead the way Erobus."
                          
	Within hesitation Erobus hurtles down the beaten path followed by mother. We all fall into an easy lope in a semi straight line through the woods.
                          
	Soon I can't help but smile. The rolling lope of a pony is a little different from a horse but the muscle memory, the movement is so familiar it makes me grin. A wide, toothy grin that grows into a soft laugh.
                          
	The exact same smile is on mother's face with the added pide seeing her daughters riding along with her. Cassandra still bumps and almost stumbles whenever the horse goes over a tiny bump and Bela is leaned far back with a look on her face that is impossible to describe. She's not shocked and she's not afraid but ironically the wide eyes and toothy look has to be her expression of intense focus. And finally there's Daniela that's bouncing around laughing and bouncing around with a delighted grin.
                          
	Mother has made trails over and under and around fixtures through all of our family's territory. 
                          
	At home I'm second only to mother in getting my horse's tack taken off and brushed down. 
                          
	Inside we go straight to the library where mother takes up a place by the piano and Daniela and Cassandra take up their instruments of choice. While mother sings Bela takes me by the hands and together we awkwardly sway and sweep across the floor, laughing and smiling all the way.
                          
	Apparently feeling left out Erobus begins howling. Cassandra is quick to quiet him but mother just smiles fondly, "I'm not open to criticism Erobus. Especially from an amateur."
                          
	We all devolve into laughter as Erobus lets out a quiet, defeated whisper of a bark before laying his head down on his paws.
                          
	"Seems you learned to like him anyway."
                          
	As always I snap to attention when Heisenberg enters. He lowers his glasses down his nose to look at mother. She glares.
                          
	"Leave it to you to ruin a perfectly pleasant evening. To what do I owe this interruption?"
                          
	Heisenberg thumps his enormous hammer gently on the floor, "Mother Miranda is starting a new tradition: family dinners. Something about mending bridges between shortcake and I and spending time together."
                          
	Shortcake is the nickname grandmother Miranda permits Heisenberg to call me. After I bit him he came up with some very creative and unsightly nicknames, some of which piggy backed off of his hatred and rivalry with mother.
                          
	Mother sighs, "Fine, then bring everyone here where there is a decent house and good food. Girls, go make Iulia more presentable."
                          
	"Me-!"
                          
	"Yes your sisters may be bloody but the dirt you manage to smudge on yourself from Erobus and the horses I cannot condone," Mother reclines on the couch. As usual I'm still slightly stubborn. She sighs, "If you wear your hair down, I'll have the maids cook your favorite dinner."
                          
The End?
                          
(( Author's Note: I'd like to thank you as a reader for coming to the end of this journey with me, I'm glad you enjoyed the book.... I hope you enjoyed the book. 
                          
If you like my writing style or are still waiting/looking for the smut chapter that wasn't I published another book "The Love of Lady Dimitrescu" This book will update weekly and is a romance instead (AKA that chapter that isn't here will be in the other book). Happy Reading! ))